


Paper Boats

by rangerhitomi



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-04
Updated: 2013-09-04
Packaged: 2017-12-25 14:24:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/954164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerhitomi/pseuds/rangerhitomi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He didn’t have the courage to tell Yuma that one of those paper boats he was sending to help the Barians find peace was for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paper Boats

The last day of a big festival was always an extravagant event in Heartland City. The unusually mild summer contributed to a greater turnout to the festival games and carnival rides than Shark remembered there being when he came to this festival with Rio six years ago. Unlike that time, however, he felt a disconnect with the people celebrating the end of a festival honoring their ancestors. He didn’t even know his family. All he had was Rio.

He wore a simple navy kimono; Rio, a purple one with blue flowers. Neither of them felt like going on any rides or playing any of the carnival games, nor were they particularly hungry. Shark hadn’t wanted to come at all, but Yuma had badgered him for three weeks before he finally gave in. Shark was beginning to regret this, as the sun was beginning to set, signalling the start of the spirit boat procession, and he hadn’t so much as seen Yuma all day. 

He really just wanted to go home, but then, it wasn’t really his home, was it?

He felt Rio tug at his hand and she pointed out two figures near a watermelon stand, one obnoxiously shoving a large piece in his mouth as the other buried her head in her hands. Shark sighed and led his sister to them.

When they approached, Yuma swallowed the watermelon with fervor and smiled brightly. “There you are, Shark! I’ve been trying to find you all afternoon! I even called but you didn’t answer.” He pouted.

Shark shrugged. “I left my D-Gazer at home.”

"You left your D-Gazer… at… home? What if the Barians were here?" Yuma wore an expression of complete disbelief, as though it was unheard of for someone to leave the house without the expectation of being attacked by angry Barians.

Of course, Shark _didn’t_ expect to be attacked by Barians.

"Ah… Kotori, it’s lovely to see you," Rio interrupted as her brother’s hands tightened on his kimono. "You look beautiful."

Kotori blushed and beamed. “Oh… but not as beautiful as you, Rio-san.” 

Yuma rolled his eyes and stepped aside so the girls could chat. “So where have you been?”

"Just walking around, I guess." Shark nodded at a bag sitting on the ground near Yuma. "What’s that? Souvenirs?" 

"Oh!" Yuma smiled and picked it up. "No, they’re paper boats I made last night."

Shark felt a little guilty that he had come to the spirit boat procession without any boats, but who would he have made one for in the first place? The bag looked full, and he felt a little jarred by the fact that Yuma knew that many people who needed to be seen off to the next world.

"It’s almost time, anyway," Yuma added, glancing up at the rapidly darkening sky. As if on cue, a gong sounded nearby and people began heading toward the river. "Come on!" He tugged at Shark’s sleeve.

"I’m going to stay with Kotori, if that’s all right," Rio said, and Shark gave her a slight shrug in return before following Yuma.

The sky melted from gold and pink to a deep purple in the few short minutes it took them to walk down to the riverbank, and some of the brighter stars twinkled. Shark’s eyes drifted to a familiar constellation, remembering a conversation he had with Kaito just a short time before that journey to the undersea palace. 

_"It’s interesting, because the Barians are named after the stars in the Ursa Major constellation. Dubhe, Phecda, Merak, Megrez, Mizar, Alioth…"_

_Benetnasch._

He pulled his gaze away and found Yuma watching him curiously. 

"Is something wrong?" 

Yes, there was something wrong, something horribly wrong, something he didn’t want to face. He hated the way Astral had sometimes looked upon him with pity, sometimes with something that might have been (or maybe he just imagined it because it was how he saw himself every time he looked in the mirror) disdain, even mistrust… And he understood why. Yuma told him one night that Astral had stated bluntly that humans and Barians could not coexist, even if Yuma considered a Barian his friend. 

"The… the stars are really bright," Shark found himself saying. 

"Yeah, they are, huh?" Yuma smiled up at the sky. "Maybe they’ll guide the spirits home."

Shark turned his head away from Yuma and bit his lip, forcing himself to keep his face impassive. Coming to this festival was a stupid idea; why he thought he’d be fine at a festival to help wayward souls find their way home was beyond him. Yuma didn’t notice. He knelt by the river and began shuffling through the boats in his bag. 

"Shark, could you help me?" 

Shark took a breath and nodded, kneeling down next to Yuma. He held the bag as Yuma pulled out two identical cardboard boats with the word “kattobingu” scrawled on the side.

Yuma cradled them for a moment, red eyes shining with tears. “Mom and Dad… you’ve always been a light to me. I hope you can find your way back.” He placed them gently in the water, and the slow current carried them a little ways off before they were swept off with the dozens of boats filling the water. 

He watched them float and smiled sadly. “I’ve done that every year since they went missing,” he whispered. “But they’re still not home.”

Shark didn’t know what to do; tears slid down Yuma’s face as he knelt by the river, hands folded on his dark red kimono. He reached over hesitantly and placed a hand on Yuma’s shoulder. “When this… conflict… is over, I’m sure they’ll be able to move on.”

Yuma looked up at Shark through watery eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s supposed to be a hopeful festival and I’m crying.”

"You miss them. There’s no shame in missing people you love."

"You’re right." Yuma ran his sleeve across his face and straightened up. "I’ve just gotta do what Dad told me to do. I’m gonna _kattobingu_ and save the Astral World.”

Shark tensed slightly and when Yuma looked at him again, he covered it up by reaching into the bag and pulling out another boat. The name on the side spelled out _Astral_.

Yuma took it. “I want Astral to be my most important person forever, but I know that when this is all over, he might go away. I want him to be happy. But I want him to come back. I miss him so much and I wish he was with me.”

Shark admired Yuma for not crying this time, because he felt his own eyes burn slightly at this. To distract himself, he looked in the bag, where seven boats waited.

"Who are these for… _Vector_?” 

Of all the Barians, Shark hated Vector enough to want him dead, and his soul to burn because that was what he deserved for what he had done in his past and in his present. There was no way that Yuma could wish Vector’s soul peace, not after what he did to Yuma. 

Yuma nodded and took the boat from Shark’s hands. “Vector is a terrible person, and he did terrible things, but it’s not up to me to judge his soul.” He placed the boat in the water, where it floated downstream to join the others.

Shark would never understand how Yuma believed Vector had a single redeemable quality in his soul, but then, Yuma didn’t know what Shark knew. 

Each boat belonged to another Barian, and Yuma gave each a little speech before setting it afloat, always about what he remembered of the Barian’s past life from the legends in the ruins. 

_Alit, the honorable fighter_

_Gilag, the benevolent general_

_Misael, the dragon’s protector_

_Durbe, the selfless knight_

Shark looked in the bag, where two remained. He tried to will his hands to pull them out, but he knew who they were for, and he couldn’t.

Yuma gave him a worried look. “Shark, I don’t think you _are_ all right. You’ve been kind of jittery since Astral- since… Rio woke up.” Since Astral disappeared, Shark thought, noting the grief filling his friend’s face.

Shark shook his head and finally managed to pull the remaining boats out of the bag and held them out to Yuma. Yuma frowned at him as he touched Shark’s hands gently.

"You’re shaking."

"Just take them," Shark said hoarsely. 

Yuma did, and kept his eyes on Shark’s. “I don’t know anything about these two but their names. But wherever they are, I hope that Merag and Nasch can find peace too.”

Shark’s body trembled as Yuma set the boats out on the water. Yuma reached over and placed his hand on Shark’s.

"You must think I’m silly," Yuma said with a small smile, turning his face toward Shark. "Hoping that the Barians will be happy, after all they’ve done to us." He turned his gaze upward to watch the fireworks that had started up.

As they filled the sky, their dazzling colors reflecting off the water, Shark watched Yuma, watched as the sadness in his face turned to peace, and his heart burned as he thought of how much trust and love Yuma had for people, even people who might not have deserved it. 

After all, he certainly deserved neither Yuma’s love nor his trust, yet that didn’t stop Shark from being filled with both toward this naive, overly optimistic boy. 

"It’s not silly," he whispered, placing his other hand on top of Yuma’s. 

He didn’t have the courage to tell Yuma that one of those paper boats he was sending to help the Barians find peace was for him.


End file.
